Iyanden
Guardian of Craftworld Iyanden]] Iyanden is an Eldar Craftworld, the greatest worldship of the Eldar Empire that was. It drifts through the stars of the eastern rim. Once, its halls were busy and vibrant with life, but no longer. Now, it is but a shadow of its former glory, a sombre and desolate vessel where the dead walk and the living dwindle. Iyanden teeters on the brink of extinction after being invaded by Hive Fleet Kraken in 992.M41. Thousands upon thousands of its noble warriors fell in battle against the Great Devourer. On the verge of utter defeat, Iyanden was saved from extermination by the return of Prince Yriel and his Eldritch Raiders. The profound losses suffered by Iyanden have led to a reliance upon the Wraithbone constructs that now form the backbone of the Craftworld's armies. Silent ghost warriors and wraithbone automata tower above Iyanden's remaining Guardians and Aspect Warriors, wielding the most powerful weaponry the craftworld can provide. But such strength comes at a terrible price, for the wraithbone constructs protecting Iyanden are inhabited by the departed spirits of Iyanden's dead. Were it not for the direst necessity, the Seers of Iyanden would leave their ancestors to rest. However, the fight for the survival of their Craftworld forces them to resurrect their dead and enlist them to fight once again. Asuryan is the oldest and greatest of the ancient Eldar deities. He is the father of the gods, the ancestor of all living things. The world-rune of the Iyanden craftworld means "Light in the Darkness," a reference to the ever-burning shrine that honours Asuryan and the flame of hope for the Eldar of Iyanden. History The Light in the Darkness worldship, the Craftworld Iyanden]] The story of Iyanden echoes that of the Eldar race itself. It is a tale of greatness squandered through hubris, of valour subverted by arrogance and, perhaps, of a renaissance of glory yet to come. It is a story that began with the Fall of the Eldar -- the dying days of the Eldar empire, when Slaanesh's monstrous birth shattered their civilisation, and the survivors fled in disarray across the stars. Having barely survived the catastrophe, the Eldar of Iyanden did not long despair. Disaster fanned the flames of their arrogance where it had doused them in others. Those who had survived the Fall had done so precisely because they had never succumbed to corruption, or so the Eldar of Iyanden said, and it was their duty to rebuild. In these early days of Slaanesh's existence, some on Iyanden's council even ventured opinion that the Dark Prince was an enemy that could be overcome, given time and the proper weapons. Though this ideology quickly faded when the scars Slaanesh left upon the Eldar psyche failed to heal, the dream of rebuilding the empire of the past never did. Thus did the seers of Iyanden harness ancient techniques of mysticism and science to recover the first Waystones from the Crone Worlds, and soon thereafter adapted the Infinity Circuit of their craftworld to be a conduit for the souls of the dead. Though Slaanesh's shadow could not be truly denied, the Dark Prince would at least have to work harder for his prizes in the years that followed. It was a small victory, but against a nemesis of such terrifying and indescribable power, there would only ever be small victories. And if a god could be thus thwarted, the Iyanden Eldar reasoned, then why could mortal foes not be similarly humbled? Driven by pride, Iyanden resolved to rebuild, not the Eldar empire of old, for that was long lost to them, but a new realm from which they would one day rule the galaxy once again. However, for this to be possible, the agents of Chaos would have to be banished from the galaxy. Deeming this noble goal could be more swiftly achieved though unity of purpose, Iyanden sent emissaries through the Webway to other craftworlds. They shared with them the discoveries of the spirit stone and infinity circuit, and bade them join in their great work. Iyanden's Seers soon lamented, for though their discoveries were welcomed, their call to action fell upon deaf ears or encountered minds too closed to embrace the opportunity. Many craftworlds deemed their resources just barely sufficient to ensure their survival in a hostile galaxy, and would not indulge such grandiose plans. Other craftworlds -- Alaitoc and Ulthwé foremost amongst them -- claimed higher duties, ones that required them to focus their strength on the destruction of ancient enemies rather than rebuilding their own past. In the end, only the Eldar of Biel-Tan joined Iyanden's cause. For thousands of years, Iyanden and Biel-Tann fought as inseparable allies, their distant craftworlds united by the common goal of defeating Chaos. Though the Eldar force were few, when considered on a galactic scale, their mastery of the Webway allowed their fleets and warhosts to span the stars with a speed and surety no other race could ever have hoped to match. As Biel-Tann purged the western arm, so did Iyanden drive the Forces of Chaos form the eastern rim, tirelessly defending the Exodites and Maiden Worlds they hoped would one day form the heart of a new civilisation. Then came the Tyranids. Iyanden had encountered such creatures before, but those had only been tendrils of the Hive Mind's awareness, groping blindly through space; now Iyanden stood exposed before the onset of an entire Hive Fleet. In their pride, the Eldar of Iyanden underestimated the threat. They believed that their might could weather even this storm, that their armies and fleets could vanquish the Great Devourer. Alas, they were terribly wrong. In an eye blink, as the Eldar reckon existence, Iyanden Craftworld was reduced to ruin. The craftworld's armies and fleets were all but gone, destroyed by the relentless Tyranid advance. Countless billions were slain, whole families and bloodlines lost forever; the living were outnumbered many times over by the dead. Now Iyanden, whose people once dreamed of ancient glory restored, was left all but adrift upon the solar tides. Abandoned by Biel-Tan, whose own dream of an empire reborn suffers not stragglers, Iyanden's living looked to their dead for salvation; the infinity circuit had become the craftworld's only hope. Roused from their dreamless slumbers and interred within mighty wraithbone bodies, the spirits of the past must fight for Iyanden's future, and for its very survival. The Rise of Iyanden For several millennia following the Fall of the Eldar, Iyanden and Biel-Tan waged a joint war against the Forces of Chaos. Though the two craftworlds were separated by countless light years, the labyrinthine tunnels of the webway allowed their forces to fight as one. Iyanden's graceful course had taken it far into the east, and so its armies focussed their efforts along the galactic rim. By contrast, the Swordwind of Biel-Tan descended most often to defend the scattered maiden worlds of the western spiral arm. Biel-Tan held that these planets, seeded with life before the Fall, held the key to the Eldar race's eventual ascension and sought to reclaim them. Together, Iyanden and Biel-Tan earned many thousands of victories, exterminating the forces of Chaos wherever they could. That the servants of the Dark Gods have never possessed a might stronghold on the eastern rim is a direct consequence of these times. The Farseers of Iyanden had focussed their divinations on the servants of Chaos alone and, even though this blinded them to much else that occurred, they foresaw and crushed Chaos incursions before they gathered pace. In time, the Exodite worlds of the far-flung Ybaric Cluster joined Iyanden's cause, bringing with them knowledge long lost to the Eldar of the craftworlds and pledging many thousands of dragon knights to the struggle. With each triumph Iyanden won, the Eternal Flame in the Shrine of Asuryan burned ever brighter, fuelling the craftworld's determination to continue the fight. An Alliance Sundered Alas, it soon became clear that the Eldar of Biel-Tan fought not to defeat servants of the Dark Gods, but to humble all who barred the Eldar path to re-ascension. With every success, Biel-Tan grew more confident, and before long, they no longer limited themselves to the destruction of Chaos. Instead, Biel-Tan began to loose its fury against any alien-occupied planet the Eldar had once claimed. They took no pleasure in their victories, seeing them merely as the righteous eradication of vermin, growing ever more bitter each time they encountered a world in need of cleansing. Before long, the pact between Biel-Tan and Iyanden weakened and ran its course. Biel-Tan came to resent that Iyanden did not share its outrage at the primitives who squatted upon ancient Eldar worlds, and interpreted Iyanden's refusal to engage in such battles as an unwillingness to spill blood alongside its ally. By contrast, the Iyanden Eldar saw little value in squandering strength on worlds they could not afford to re-colonise; nor did they hate the aliens so deeply as their Biel-Tan kin -- indeed, the Eldar of Iyanden pitied many of the aliens for their shortcoming. Though the alliance was never officially dissolved, joint campaigns between the two craftworlds became ever more infrequent until, one day, communications ceased altogether. Greater woes befell Iyanden when Warp storms by sending expeditions to the cluster through the webway. Alas, none ever returned, and the Seer Council of Iyanden reluctantly gave up their Exodite allies for lost until such time as the Warp Storms abated. No longer able to rely upon the aid of allies, Iyanden's accomplishments were curtailed in the decades that followed. Worse, the Farseers had greatly underestimated how far the influence of Chaos had run through the younger races. Mankind had been corrupted most of all, and even populous Iyanden lacked the numbers to provide more than a token opposition to humanity's spread. At first, Iyanden's council believed this to be an unorchestrated series of events, but in time, the Farseers were able to unveil the terrible truth; these uprising were guided by a singular genius. Zhemon, once a Space Marine of the Dark Angels Space Marine Legion, now a soul fallen into darkness, was manipulating insurrection and heresy on an unprecedented scale. As Zhemon's empire of anarchy spread, worlds that had been cleansed of Chaos influence now fell deeper under the sway of the Dark Gods than ever before, the incepted madness spreading like a plague. The Dead are Summoned Zhemon's puppetry was not aimed at harming Iyanden, rather it was an act of revenge against his own former masters, but understanding his motive was of little consolation to Iyanden's council, who foresaw Zhemon would undo their efforts of centuries in mere decades. Sensing that the labours of millennia were about to be undone, they turned to drastic measures. So it was that, after much weighty consideration, Iyanden's council ordered the craftworld's Spiritseers to commune with the Infinity Circuit and rouse the dead to battle alongside the living. When the news of this decision reached Iyanden's populace, there was uproar; Eldar of all ranks and Paths flooded to the Place of Answering to voice their horrified objections. Awakening the ghost warriors had ever been a measure of last resort; to do so in any course other than survival was held by many Eldar to be a break with tradition and an abuse of their honoured dead. Only by reassuring the assembled masses that this sacrifice was necessary if the work of aeons was not to be undone, did the council soothe this affront. With its ranks reinforced by implacable ghost warriors, Iyanden soon knew fresh success. Chaos-tainted worlds were purged, Warp rifts were sealed and Zhemon's prophets and cultist rabbles were driven back. Alas, never had Iyanden faced an enemy whose forces were so widespread, and the council began to fear that even with the ghost warriors, their forces might be insufficient to claim victory. Fortunately, the craftworld did not have to confront Zhemon alone. The Imperium of Man, though sluggish in its response, had at last sent armies and fleets to bring the rebellious sector to heel. Though Iyanden would not lower itself to work directly with the primitive humans, its council quickly realised the value in sharing their aim. Iyanden attacked Zhemon's power base on pivotal worlds, weakening his defences to such an extent that even the uncoordinated efforts of the loyalist humans could make headway. Common Cause Zhemon was finally cornered by Iyanden's forces on the world of Ishata. This battle marked the only time in the entire campaign where the Eldar fought at the Imperium's side. The Dark Angels, ever alert for their fallen brethren, the Fallen Angels, struck at Ishasta in the very hour in which a host of ghost warriors had begun the final assault on Zhemon's palace-stronghodl. Wraithlords and Wraithguard advanced upon the palace's gates, nigh-impervious to the Heavy Stubber and Autocannon fire that hammered into them. Seeing the danger, Zhemon loosed a savage pack of Maulerfiend Daemon Engines upon the attackers at his gates, even as he prepared to flee with his personal guard. Unfortunately for the Fallen, the scale of the ghost warrior assault had stripped defenders from other walls, and fast-moving Ravenwing bikers now breached the compound from the rear, Bolters roaring with flame. As Zhemon and his bodyguard fought like cornered rats to keep the vengeful Dark Angels at bay, the Maulerfiends thundered into the ghost warriors. Wraithbone was trussed by lasher tendrils and shattered, but the attackers held firm. The spirits within the wraith-constructs were those of Eldar slain as a result of Zhemon's rise; they had come seeking vengeance and would not be denied. Smouldering forge-ichor oozed forth as wraithbone firsts smashed through daemonic armour, and then the ghost warriors were striding though the wreckage and into the palace itself. Caught between the cold fury of the Dark Angels and the relentless vengeance of the walking dead, Zhemon's bodyguard were swiftly overwhelmed and their wretched master taken alive. At the close of the battle, the Dark Angels demanded that Zhemon be given over to their keeping. Iyanden's council were reluctant to accede at first, and for a time, it seemed that the impromptu allies would fall upon each other in quarrel over the traitor's fate. Only when the council foresaw that Zhemon would suffer far more at the Dark Angels' hands than he ever would at those of the Eldar, was the matter settled. So it was that, when the Dark Angels left Ishasta, they did so with Zhemon frozen in a stasis vault. In the days that followed Zhemon's defeat, the Eldar of Iyanden restored their dead to slumber and rejoiced. They had been tested, they said, and had emerged stronger for it. Swayed by Iyanden's success, two lesser craftworlds of the eastern rim pledged their forces to its cause. The first, Malan'tai, was a sombre worldship whose people had suffered greatly at the hands of Ork pirates and had remade their home into nothing less than a fortress. Idharae was the opposite, a vessel whose splendour rivalled that of the old empire. Acting in concert, these three nomadic peoples were nigh unstoppable. Alas, confidence became arrogance, and would soon cost all three craftworlds dearly. The Age of Glory For long centuries, Iyanden continued along its serene course, a beacon of light that drove back the darkness wherever it advanced. Victory followed victory, each greater than the last. Daemonic hordes were banished back into the Warp, and cults to the Dark Gods were driven from human and alien worlds alike. Thousands of light years away, the High Lords of Terra noted that the forces of Chaos seemed far less active along the eastern rim and briefly wondered why. They elected not to question the serendipity, and instead simply enjoyed fate's largesse. Had they but thought to investigate, the humans would have found a powerful ally in their own battle against the Chaos threat, but other crises soon distracted them, and a great opportunity was forever lost. The Naga's Srike As the centuries ground on , the Warp storms around the Ybaric Cluster faded, allowing contact with the Exodite worlds therein. Alas, no sooner had the Warp storms faded than a new enemy descended. Hive Fleet Naga, a remnant of the Behemoth that was, had set its sights on the bountiful worlds of the Ybaric Cluster. To their credit, Iyanden, and its sister craftworlds of Malant'tai and Idharae, responded almost immediately, but even so, they were too slow. By the time the first Eldar fleets had engaged Hive Fleet Naga, Halathel, largest and most prosperous of the Exodite worlds, was all but overrun by Tyranids. Even with aid of forces from Malan'tai and Idharae, the Exodites could not repel the invaders. Iyanden's forces, under the command of Admiral Draech, arrived at Halathel to discover its World Spirit destroyed and its defenders consumed. Determined to exact vengeance for Halathel, the Iyanden fleet engaged the orbiting Hive Ships, but underestimated the menace of their foes. Draech's flagship, the Auspicious Illumination of Eternity, was destroyed early in the battle, and for a time, it seemed that the whole Eldar fleet would be lost alongside it. Only when a young prince named Yriel took command did the tide of battle turn. Realising that the smaller Tyranid vessels could not function if the greater bio-ships were destroyed, Yriel converged his forces on these targets, but it was only when the prince unleashed boarding parties to destroy the ships from within that he meet with success. Though many Eldar lives were lost and hundred of ghost warriors destroyed, the ships were finally slain. With their passing, the smaller Tyranid vessels flew into an uncoordinated frenzy and were easy prey. Though the strength of Hive Fleet Naga had been greatly diminished, its threat was not yet ended. In the following months, Yriel's forces joined with those of Malan'tai and Idharae to fight hundreds of engagements against the Tyranids, both in the cold dark of space and amidst the horror of partially-digested worlds. Little by little, the Tyranids were scoured from the Ybaric Cluster, and victory was at last won -- though not without great cost. Idharae, which was never the most populous of craftworlds to begin with, lost many of its warriors defending the maiden world of Eth-aelas, and its halls were ever after empty and joyless places. Malan'tai suffered far worse and was destroyed when an aberrant form of Tyranid life devoured the craftworld's infinity circuit and used the stolen power to slay the rest of Malan'tai's living Eldar. A Time of Greatness Notable Events *'A Cry for Help (801-808.M41)' - A string of Eldar Exodite worlds and Maiden Worlds fall under the shadow of Hive Fleet Naga. The Eldar craftworlds of Idharae, Iyanden and Malan'tai despatch fleets to their aid. *'The War for Halathel (810-811.M41)' - The flagship of Iyanden's fleet is destroyed whilst attempting to pierce the Tyranid blockade on Halathel. Prince Yriel assumes command and defeats the remaining bio-ships, but it is too late to save Halathel's Exodite protectors. Overwhelmed by rage and grief, Yriel orders the planet to be scoured of all life lest a single Tyranid survive, before rushing to rejoin his kin at Eth-aelas. *'The Doom of Malan'tai (812.M41)' - Hive Fleet Naga is systematically vanquished by the combined forces of Craftworlds Malan'tai, Iyanden and Idharae. In the Hive Fleet’s death throes, it ejects a clutch of Mycetic Spores, one of which reaches Craftworld Malan'tai. The psychic leech-creature that emerges slowly bleeds the craftworld unto death. *'The Perfect War (891.M41)' - Upon the sludge planet of Yurk, the armies of the Ork Warlord Killfist are engaged and killed without loss by Craftworld Iyanden's grav-tank skimmers. The clockwork precision of the warhost’s attack prevents the Yurkoid Waaagh! altogether and saves a virgin Eldar colony from destruction in the process. *'The Devourer Descends (992.M41)' - The Tyranids push their tendrils into the galaxy, and Craftworld Iyanden is locked in a death-struggle against the mighty Hive Fleet Kraken. As the craftworld teeters on the brink of extinction, more and more Ghost Warriors are summoned to its defence, until the army facing the Tyranids is as much of the dead as the living. Thousands of souls are drawn from the Infinity Circuit to stand beside their living descendants until whole armies of Wraithguard stride to war, but even drawing on this precious resource cannot stop the Tyranid invasion. With millions of Tyranids battling through the craftworld itself and the craftworld's own defences unable to drive off the waves of hive ships assailing it, only the timely arrival of an outside influence saves the ancient craftworld. Prince Yriel returns from his exile at the head of his Eldritch Raiders and vanquishes the Tyranid fleet in a titanic space battle. Rallying the desperate defenders upon the craftworld, Yriel ensures his place in legend when he takes up the cursed Spear of Twilight and slays the towering monster leading the Tyranid invasion. *'An Unexpected Ally (995.M41)' - The Craftworld of Iyanden, struggling to survive after its horrible narrow victory over Hive Fleet Kraken, is forced to engage WAAAGH! Rekkfist in order to prevent Iyanden being invaded again. Early engagements cause crippling damage on the greenskin empire, but the Orks counter-attack in force. Iyanden is left with no choice but to disturb more and more of their revered ancestors from their deathly slumbers and place their spirit stones into mighty Ghost Warriors in order to contain the counter-invasion. Just as all seems lost, the Wraithkind Kabal and the Cult of the Flayed Hand burst through the Webway portal at the Craftworld's rear. Fighting alongside Iyanden's Aspect Warriors and their Ghost Warrior allies, the Dark Eldar drive off the Orks. When asked by Iyanden's Council of Seers as to why they intervened, the Dark Eldar reply that they find Iyanden's angst-ridden forays into the world of necromancy extremely entertaining. *'The Bio-Purge (999.M41)' - The Biel-Tan and Iyanden Eldar unite in the incineration of dozens of Imperial and Ork-held worlds in and around the Octarius system. By swiftly establishing beachheads and activating a modified version of the psychic doomsday device used to destroy the Tyranid-infested planet of Dûriel, the Eldar ensure that no shred of biomass is left intact. Though the Imperium rages at the slaughter, blindly venting its wrath upon any xenos spaceship within a dozen parsecs, Hive Fleet Leviathan is denied crucial bio-resources as a result. A short time after, a major part of the hive fleet is isolated and destroyed by interlacing Eldar attacks. Notable Locations *'Shrine of Asuryan' - The Eldar of Iyanden have ever revered Asuryan, the eldest and greatest of all the gods. Indeed, the Shrine of Asuryan lies at the very heart of the craftworld. In the centre of this hallowed chamber, atop a pyramid of perfect diamond, burns the Fire of Creation, said by some to be the last splinter of Asuryan's power. For thousands of years, it was from the presence of this flame that the Eldar of Iyanden drew their strength; even though Asuryan was gone, consumed by Slaanesh during the Fall, the presence of his flame told the Eldar of Iyanden that they were still touched by greatness and would one day make the gods proud. It that fire were to go out, or so legend told, doom would befall the craftworld and all within it. The Eldar, being creatures of subtle and intricate mind, interpreted the legend as metaphor, for they knew the fire of the shrine was but a reflection of the flame they kindled within their own souls. Notable Iyanden Eldar *'Prince Yriel' - *'Kelmon Firesight' - *'Iyanna Arienal' - *'Mehlendri Silversoul' - *'Invaril Brightshard' - *'Taec Silvereye' - *'Draech' - *'Sunspear' - Sources *''Battlefleet Gothic 2010 Compendium'', "Doom of the Eldar -Yriel's Raiders, and the Warfleets of the Craftworld Eldar," pp. 124-145 *''Codex: Dark Eldar'' (5th Edition), pg. 23 *''Codex: Eldar'' (6th Edition), pp. 16, 23, 54, 75, 89 *''Codex: Eldar'' (4th Edition), pp. *''Codex: Eldar'' (2nd Edition), pp. *''Codex: Tyranids'' (6th Edition) (Ebook), pp. 33-34, 39-43 *''Codex: Tyranids'' (5th Edition), pp. *''Craftworld Iyandedn - A Codex: Eldar Supplement'' (6th Edition) *''Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse'', pg. 144 *''Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook'' (5th Edition), pg. 117 Category:I Category:Eldar Category:Eldar Craftworlds